That is not to say that this will be anything like as defensive a display from Real Madrid, but we must consider the prospect that they will play for a draw.

Change in shape for Real?

With this in mind, Marca has reported this week that Mourinho will ditch the 4-2-3-1 system he’s favoured so far this season, in favour of a system with a third defensive midfielder. The player to make way here would probably be Mesut Ozil, with Lassana Diarra coming into the centre of the pitch.

It’s unlikely Mourinho would deploy three ‘flat’ holding midfielders, however, and his next decision would be whether to play the third midfielder deeper than the other two, ready to pick up Lionel Messi when he drifts into deep positions, or to play a midfielder higher up the pitch, closing down Xavi Hernandez, the man who dominated the clash between these two back in April. The nature of Diarra would suggest it would be the former. A more surprising move would be to use Ozil as a false nine, as discussed by Roberticus.

He is, however, also Real’s biggest attacking threat. How would a Ronaldo v Alves battle pan out? Ronaldo’s brief this season is to stay high up the pitch and focus on pinning the opposition full-back back. It is unlikely that Alves would be subdued as easily as this, but if he pushes forward this will force Gerard Pique over, potentially exposing him to 1 v 1 situations against Ronaldo, 2 v 2 when you consider Gonzalo Higuain and Carles Puyol.

Barca compromise?

Guardiola is usually not fussed about leaving so few defenders back, but surely against Ronaldo, the toughest individual Barcelona will face all season, there must be some level of compromise.

A possible solution to the problem is to make Barca more secure on the other side of the pitch. Guardiola has three options at left-back – Eric Abidal, Maxwell and Adriano. Abidal is the one most comfortable in central positions, and using him tucked in on that side would mean that Alves would be free to get forward, and Barcelona could briefly shuffle across into a back three with Pique right, Carles Puyol central, and Eric Abidal on the left of the three.

Real are likely to react to Barcelona’s shape more than vice-versa, but don’t rule out a tactical surprise from Guardiola, perhaps with a more defensive team than usual. In the Clasico back in April, for example, Guardiola used Dani Alves in an unfamiliar right-sided midfield role to help double up against Ronaldo. That is probably less likely to happen here, but it’s not inconceivable that Guardiola, like Mourinho, could opt for an additional holding midfielder – Sergio Busquets will start but could be joined by Seydou Keita or Javier Mascherano. Keita would probably be the favourite, on the left side of a midfield triangle, since he is capable of pressing high up the pitch and closing down Real’s central midfielders. This would then push Iniesta into a forward role and mean Pedro moves to the bench.

That could have ramifications upfront. When Pedro, Messi and David Villa are used as a three, it’s been common in recent weeks for Messi to play as the centre-forward, with Villa cutting in from the left. Villa is less comfortable doing that from the right, so he would play central and Messi would move out to his more traditional right-sided role. This could be the best place for him in this game – if Real are trying to pack the centre of the pitch, and Marcelo (of whom there are still question marks defensively) is being left exposed by Ronaldo, Messi will prosper on the right-hand side of the pitch. Alternatively, Iniesta could be used on the right – a position he rarely plays, but he has started there before this season.

Real will sit deep and Barcelona will dominate possession. Guardiola’s side will probably have no unusual plans in terms of what they do with the ball, but Real are likely to play direct football on the counter-attack to exploit Barca’s high line.

78 Responses to “ Barca v Real: El Clasico tactical preview ”

Leonard Pilla on November 28, 2010 at 12:50 pm

Interesting analysis, but I have doubts if Mourinho would really drop Ozil. The german does a superb job defensively and allowing too much time on the ball for busquets or even Xavi with 3 upfront could be disastrous. On the other hand, freeing up Xabi Alonso could be important with his pinpoint counter attacking passes. A lot of the time he has to cover Marcelo’s side.

Is Mascherano not fit? Surely he would be preferred to Keita, who was imo Barca’s least effective player in the away leg rout against Inter. Keita is a decent player but if he’s looking to stop Real Madrid from counterattacking then Mascherano is a superior player.

Different players – he might well use Mascherano but frankly I’m not sure he’s the player to stop counter-attacks – so far in his Barcelona careers he’s picked up early yellow cards with cynical tackles and then becomes fairly useless as he’s scared to tackle.

actually, Mascherano hasn’t picked up a yellow card since the Atletico Madrid game.

Gnegneri on November 28, 2010 at 1:29 pm

And played great games as well since.

But will he balance the height issue betwene both teams?

Rajesh on November 29, 2010 at 9:12 am

And all across the Barca hardcore fan blogs, more and more people have become Macherrano fans and hope he will start together with Xavi and Busquests, pushing Iniesta up, hard on Pedro though.
Pep did say before the Panathi…. game that he will send his best team out and it was Masch instead of Busquests. If we can read into that Masch might start.

Jean le bon on November 28, 2010 at 2:56 pm

Then why did Barcelona buy him if not for big games against dangerous opposition? As for pressing, I would’ve thought that Mascherano could do that as well no?

sibelkacem on November 28, 2010 at 5:56 pm

They bought him as a competition for Busquets and generally because they lacked a midfielder in the roster.
ZM has just explained why he thinks Mascherano can’t do that. Why are you asking again?

Did I say you are not allowed? I’m asking. I am allowed to question something you say. Go away.

ormishen on November 28, 2010 at 1:15 pm

i sorta think this is where barca will really miss having yaya toure as he would usually come back deep and essentially play as a third centre-back when the full-backs went forward (im pretty sure i read that here on this site). But maybe busquets can do the same thing?

Very interesting read! From a Barcelona point of view, the 3 players that might be the key factors are to me at least Pique, Abidal and Iniesta. Pique obviously since he is the only center back that can play the ball out, Abidal because he is the quickest defender by far and Iniesta because he offers more than just the pass to the team and can beat opponents with a dribble, which will be key in midfield when it’s closed down.
2 of these 3 players were missing in the Inter clash last year and to me especially Abidal missing out was key as without him the high defensive line is most exposed. (btw. with regards to Hercules game, the basic point is right about Alves but it was Adriano who played that game).
It will be also an important game in terms of “Hawk-Dove” situation of you like. Let’s say Guardiola takes out the jugular and goes with a rather attacking formation of Xavi-Busquets-Iniesta in midfield and Pedro-Messi-Villa from the start. Then Mourinho will definitely be better off with a Diarra variation. However, if Barcelona try to play a game of patience and start with Keita in midfield and Pedro on the bench, they should have more solidity in the back and hence the Mourinho line-up with Diarra, as Roberticus nicely quoted Sacchi, would force them to defend players that are not there. So he would be better off with the usual formation. It should be a classic game.

That’s a very interesting game theory view on it! And I think you’re right. Abidal’s pace another very good point, another reason why I think he might start ahead of Maxwell, despite the fact Maxwell was key in the Clasico in April

Yeah, Maxwell definitely was key. This takes me to the “idea” that Guardiola might stay true to his tactical surprises and play Maxwell and Abidal together on the left, Messi right and Villa center. This way, he could more easily pin Ramos down, make life harder for Di Maria, be defensively much more solid and still play Iniesta and Xavi in midfield and rather stretch the defense with a true winger. It would probably be a less fluid front line but it would be an idea to solve some issues.

Roberticus on November 28, 2010 at 6:59 pm

Maybe Guardiola will go with something like that more cautious 4-4-2 from the Bernabeu fixture last season.
Though you are imagining a re-adjustment of this, with the ‘double-lateral’ policy occuring on the opposite flank to Alves this time round is that right? Namely, last year Alves played ahead of Puyol, whilst this time it would feature Maxwell ahead of Abidal on the left.

But whereas last year Keita offered all-round solidity on the other flank (where the full-back behind him was much more offensive), this year Iniesta will feature and under this arrangement that would surely be as an ‘interior’ on the right (ahead of Alves)? Despite being right-footed, Iniesta is comfortable enough to play anywhere as long as he is not obliged to make runs to the byline, and let’s not forget that this was largely the role he played with Spain in the World Cup.

That just leave me to wonder whether the holding mid (Busquets) would be supported by, say, Xavi as per last April’s fixture. If Oezil were not starting, I’d say this would be much more feasible since Busquets wouldn’t be distracted by keeping tags on such a creative presence, thereby allowing Xavi to advance with the ball closer to Iniesta (and participate in pressing the Madrid defensive midfielders whenever they had the ball).

With this sort of set-up, and sticking with ZM’s suggestion of a three-man-backline, you could well end up seing a de facto 3-5-2 (3-3-2-2?) for much of the game.
And the great thing, from a tactical viewpoint, about having Pique in a back three is that he can step up into midfield whenever Madrid vacate Barcelona’s defensive sector (thereby avoiding redundancy w 3-v-1 and so forth).

Kind of, yes, except that Maxwell can play that as a left winger while Dani Alves needs space to roam forward. It would more or less in shape turn out as a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 with two very offensive central midfielders. It could lead to Madrid having an advantage on barca’s right side of defense or it could work out. I guess we will know more in 4 hours(line-up) and later in 7.

Fdoslb on November 28, 2010 at 1:58 pm

Is Arbeloa definitively out ?

In this match, he could be strong. A very defensive fullback, to take care of Messi when he plays ride side… Arbeloa is a “wrong foot” (faux-pied in French), who has right foot but plays left… just like Javier Zanetti in the first round of 1/2 Inter-Barça last year… and Zanetti blocked Messi very well.

With Arbeloa playing fullback, Marcelo could plays left-midfield, Cristiano moving to the right, and Di Maria moving… outside the pitch.

And Arbeloa/Marcelo is a good option to block Dani Alves rushes, and to counter-attack

marcelo playing like Pandev last year, as an “offensive midfield”, but who has to mission to run Messi, from the left to the center.

i don’t think Mourinho would touch his usual 4-5-1… but he will “adapt” this.

With Xabi Alonso and Khedira playing deep (as usual), and Ozil playing deep too, deeper to… to press Xavi when he approch the 30 meters of Real Madrid, like Sneijder last year…

Good point, actually. I remembered Benitez actually did the same (playing Arbeloa on the left on shutdown Messi) during the 2006-07 season.

The problem is Messi doesn’t play on the right anymore.

Jim on November 29, 2010 at 10:58 am

He may do if barca go more defensive. Proabably a lot of secong guessing from Mou on what Pep will do.

Jim on November 29, 2010 at 10:56 am

This would be a good option. Only problem is you move Ronaldo out of his best position and give Ramos little cover against Iniesta. But I think you may offset that by having Ronaldo push up against Puyol instead of Pique where he has a greater pace and ability advantage.

guil9 on November 28, 2010 at 2:04 pm

First, I think Pedro is going to play, because he’s defensive task is amazing, and his pace will help Alves to cover Marcelo-Ronaldo in the right wing.

Second, Özil is going to play too, however he probably do it in a more ‘central midfield’ role, not the ‘classic 10′ that plays now.Messi would be double-marked, Xavi and Iniesta have to look at Pedro and Villa more in this game, because Messi will do some craziness in any moment.

johannes cruijff on November 28, 2010 at 2:42 pm

Yes, Pedro is amazing defensively

Jim on November 29, 2010 at 11:00 am

Do you think if Ozil plays deeper he may pick up Xavi instead of Busquests?

johannes cruijff on November 29, 2010 at 12:35 pm

Maybe

Anonymous on November 28, 2010 at 2:07 pm

I’d say there’s a chance that Mourinho may switch Ronaldo and Di Maria to nullify Alves as Ronaldo will drift around the attacking third regardless of his starting position. Puyol’s lack of pace and propensity for fouling quicker players could be the key weakness for Barca as Madrid are likely to test him with balls in behind.

footballfan on November 28, 2010 at 2:23 pm

From what I think maybe Pep Guardiola should play Mascherano as centre back alongside Pique. This may not be Mascherano’s comfortable position but it allows Puyol to move right to deal with CR7. As for Ozil maybe Jose Mourinho can use him this time round in a more defensive manner – that is get between Xavi and Iniesta to bottle them up. This may force Xavi and Iniesta to take things cautiously or spread it to the flanks maybe Maxwell, where Di Maria or CR7, played inverted can tie him down, denying Barca width. This will allow Xabi Alonso to pump in long balls to Higuain to hit on the counter without being pressed.

I think that Real would play 4 4 1 1 zone in defence, with higher line at 30 meters.
Also, I agree with Fdoslb that Mourinho would probably double up his left side with arbeloa and marcelo.
————Casillas—————–

Ramos—–Pepe—-Carvalho——Arbeloa

————Khedira—Xabi————
Di Maria(Ronaldo)—————Marcelo

—————-Ozil(Ronaldo)———-

————Higuain——————–

Although maybe it would be better for them defensively to play 3 central midfielders-
———–Lass—————

——-Kherida—-Xabi——–

so they can take care of Messi easier, or Xavi as you said. But, i don’t think Mourinho will play like this, I think he will play 4 4 1 1 defence, with pressing when Barca enter that area.

Also, I think that Higuain will do the same thing as Milito did, he will cover one of the centre backs when the ball is at full back( Example, Puyol pass to Abidal- he will cover Puyol so Abidal can’t pass him back and force him to play riskier passes ( To Pique who is 20 meters away, or to Busquets who will probably be covered by quick Ronaldo)

johannes cruijff on November 28, 2010 at 2:48 pm

And, one more thing, I think that Mourinho could try to surprise Guardiola by attacking on counter through the middle, Higuan moves to a side or drops deep and Ronaldo runs into space…. With balls over the top, or narrow quick passing, they can maybe do that

Konsta K. on November 28, 2010 at 2:56 pm

This is merely speculation, but do you lot think that Mourinho could really shuffle the pack, and ”uninert” his wide players? Playing Ronaldo in a central role (aerial threat), Di Maria on the left and Benzema on the right? Benzema has been in fine form and is more of a team player to me than Hiquain is, and is quite happy to fulfill his defensive duties as well as playing some decent balls to his teammates. Same goes with Di Maria.

This set-up should provide some natural width in Di maria and Marcelo, but also offering the option to play Oezil in the starting line-up, since the wide players would play in a deeper role than normally this season (espeacilly the lef-hand side). Khedira would be the natural choice to field in a deep leftish role to cover for Marcelo.

Just a wacky thought.

T.N.T on November 28, 2010 at 2:58 pm

i think guardiola should go on a conservative approach at the beginning (that he might change during the course of the game), playing something like that (featuring one extra defender, Messi more close to Xavi than usual):
—-Puyol-Pique-Abidal—–
-Alvez—-SB——-Maxwell–
———-Xavi————-
-Messi————–Iniesta-
———-Villa———–
As Marc has observed, Madrid plays a lopsided middlefield, with di maria plenty of meters behind ronaldo and not in line.. This leaves a gap between ronaldo and marcelo, as madrid’s left side is not so solid defensively comparing with the right, that Alvez can brilliantly exploit..
When Alvez would be up front Pique or Puyol would cover as inside right center-back and would face ronaldo.. Maxwell would face di Maria as a straightworward 1 to 1 battle, SB would track ozil, marcelo would face alvez when going forward, and iniesta ramos accordingly..
Messi staying close to XAvi means that there would be a 2vs2 against Alonso and Kedhira/
If real centre backs move higher on the pitch and try to play the ball, i would opt for Pedro instead for villa, for he is extremely pacy and a leathal finisher..

BlauGroc on November 28, 2010 at 9:42 pm

@TNT.

I think this is the most interesting (though not sure how likely), line up as well. With Maxwell (or possibly Keita) taking Pedro’s place, and lining up on the left of a four man midfield. Has a lot of advantages in that it would give them greater firepower in the vital midfield battle, and frees up Iniesta to play a freer role higher up, gliding as he can through the midfield and creating occasions and space for Villa and Messi. While releaving their left back (most likely Abidal) of the need to provide constant wide support, so when they have the ball, he can tuck in creating a back three of Pique-Puyol-Abidal, allowing Busquets to play a bit further up as sweeper-distributor breaking up RM breaks and perhaps tracking Ozil as he did with Spain in the semis and then later nullifying Sneijder in the final, and helping Pique provide extra cover for the gaps that open up on as Alves bombs forward. This was the line-up in the second half in the bernabeu last season, and worked a treat. Pique had Ronaldo in his pocket and it cuts out some of the threat of the easy through balls and balls over the top.

An effective way of counteracting the RM fast break threat?

Also like it offensively, in that it moves Villa closer to the central danger area, and Maxwell and Keita have shown that they have good shots from distance (otherwise lacking from the Barca midfield) and are good at getting down to the touchline, thus turning the defense around and playing balls low backwards into the box -which is much more difficult to defend for a deeplying defence than crosses (like Alves’) swung towards them as they face up the pitch (Messi and Villa aren’t going to win those balls in the air). See the first goal by Pedro (dragback by Maxwell) in the 1-3 in Milan last year for how this can work.

Also allows Pedro to come in in the second half as an impact sub – as in the world cup semi’s and either help in the hunt for a winner or equaliser, or kill off the game as RM open up as they chase.

Would be really surprised not to see some sort of innovation from Guardiola to respond to the obvious fast-break threat of RM. This is the solution I like the most.

Josef on November 29, 2010 at 4:24 pm

Yes. Bielsa-style 3313 shifting to 4213 if necessary.

Momo on November 28, 2010 at 3:22 pm

I believe Pep will completely reshuffle and go with
——VV———
—-piq–puy—–
–masch–busq–abidal
-Alves–Xavi——
—messi—–iniesta
————villa
This double pivot will happen for a number of reasons:
1. Due to the obvious contrast in pique and ronaldo’s form recently.
2. Busquets will be required to perform the same marking role on Ozil as he did in the world cup semis
3. Messi will play a false nine but will attempt to occupy a more right sided role to take advantage of marcelo’s runs, and lack of tracking back by ronaldo

IMO this match will be won or lost on barca’s right side

Hugo on November 28, 2010 at 3:35 pm

So pissed that I’m going to miss this. Wish it was a Sunday game!

I hope Messi plays on the right too, and that he finally scores against Mourinho.

All the possible alternatives for Real seem to include Higuaín. What if Mourinho does go for the 3 holding midfielders, but keeps Özil and takes out Higuaín? Ronaldo could move into the centre (or all over, anyway, it’s Ronaldo we’re talking about), Di María to the left wing and Özil in a nominal attacking right midfielder position, but drifting to the middle. This could make the attack a lot more mobile and still keep a player who has been very strong defensively taking care of Daniel Alves.

On the Barcelona side, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Maxwell moving up to left midfielder and Abidal going on to left back (precisely to keep a strong centre and free up Alves). Making way? Likely Pedro.

Still, this is too much guesswork. Both Guardiola and Mourinho understand the need to keep formations which are strong and tried (especially Mourinho). They most likely start with their usual line-ups and trust their players to adapt as the game goes on.

Sam on November 28, 2010 at 4:04 pm

Actually, it’s still not sure if Higuaín is ready to play the game. But if Higuaín is absent I’m sure Mourinho will use Benzema. First of all, I think Mourinho prefers Benzema over Higuaín, but he needs to use Higuaín at the moment because Higuaín is in better shape and he’s more suited to the playing style of the team. Benzema however, is far better at holding the ball up and in his link-up play. Mourinho just wants him to show more drive, more determination and better work-rate.

Jim on November 29, 2010 at 11:18 am

It is probably too risky for Mou especially to change it up too much. We know that he will be willing to change things fast if things aren’t goin to plan.

Sam on November 28, 2010 at 4:01 pm

I think Mourinho will go with the same system, but he will switch Ronaldo with Di María as Di María’s work-rate is much superior to Ronaldo’s when it comes to defending and pressing. Also, Alves is a much better full-back than Abidal who could be easily outpaced by Ronaldo (I mean, this is the same left-back that was demolished by a Clásico debutant, Palanca).

I think Özil will play and that he will pick up Busquéts in the same manner he picked up Pirlo. Busquets moves more than Pirlo and should be harder to mark but Özil will probably be used that way.

I think Barcelona could easily play with Mascherano or Keita. Guardiola is an offensive manager, but he never forgets about the teams defense and positioning (which arguably is Barcelona’s strong side).

I think this will be a match of determination and how disciplined the two teams are. Mistakes are bound to happen and the team to win will probably the team that capitalizes the best out of the two teams.

I believe your assessment is generally correct, ZM. Mourinho is very tactical in nature and partial to defense. His forte is the rapid transition from defense to attack, and that hasn’t changed since Stamford Bridge at least. Because Barcelona have long played high up the pitch, they have always been vulnerable to the counterattack. On the other hand, the Blaugrana usually play sides that employ this tactic, it’s just that Mourinho is a master at countering quickly from the defense. Guardiola has reduced their weakness through a more fit squad that presses incessantly, but anything can happen in football.

Should be a good match. Visca Barça.

supermadridsta on November 28, 2010 at 4:33 pm

I beleive Mourinho will go for attack in the beginning, i have a feeling he will line up with Benzema, Ronaldo and Higuain up front with lass,xabi,khedira,marcelo,pepe,carvalho,ramos at the back, trying to focus only on the centre to get a 3v2 with puyol and pique, then after he gets his goal, he will sub one or both of benzema and higuain to cover more barca players.
I believe he did this in the first leg with inter (milito,pandev and etoo). But this would require real’s midfield to sit deep and get the ball to the front 3 very quickly.
The formation would be very narrow and clog the midfield and limit the xavi-iniesta influence.
Also one of the front three could man mark busquets so that Barca cant back pass to him and may loose the ball higher up the pitch.

Falahk on November 28, 2010 at 4:36 pm

I do think that Mourinho will indeed start with 4-2-3-1, however I expect him to pick Diarra over Di Maria for the rightwing role, much in a similar way to why he picked Stankovic over Pandev vs us(Roma) last session

this would give him much more options to shuffle his formation around should the intial formation not deliver, and provide more defencive bite (since a draw would be a good result)

I'm going to be Frank on November 28, 2010 at 4:59 pm

I have a couple question – do starting lineups get released at the same time? Can managers change their selection after the release of the other team’s selection? I know in the NHL (American hockey league) the home team has “last change” which in the case of this game may be important.

Anton on November 29, 2010 at 1:12 pm

They can change line-ups until the second the teams get on the pitch. Managers are not even obligated to provide a starting eleven (although they do have to provide a – i think – 23-man squad from which they have to pick.

Mascherano would be played due to analysis of the following games.
1)Portugal vs Spain: Pique showed hat he is incapeble of dealing with Ronaldo, especially through 1 on 1 situations, so I doubt Pep would commit the same tactical error.
2)Milan vs Madrid: Milan deployed Prince to minimize the amount of space Ronaldo has to work with & Milan were able to come back in the match. Ronaldo is a player who relies a lot on his athletic abilities & he is very inefficient without momentum & its very hard to build momentum in a restricted space.
3)The fact is Barca has never played a team that counters even half as good as Madrid this season, so Monday will be a bad time for finding out about your weeknessess, rather play it safe & make changes second half. Barca crumbled against Inter a counter attacking team that did not even have Ronaldo & Di Maria, so it would be madness to open a door for experimentations.

Lass wont be played because of the following reasons.
1)The starting 11 has been consistent for all the last 10 importent matches & Lass hardly played more than 30min in any of those games, so it does not make sense to make such a crucial change in the system in an importent match like this.
2)Contrary to how Madrid is playing but systematicaly they are a very young team & any change in the basic system could cause the system to colapse, I still remeber how ordinary Inter used to look when Sneijder was injured. The basic system has Oezil as the advanced playmaker by creating & completing all the counters. The system then has Alonso as the deeplying playmaker, Khedira is there to protect or connect both players, so changing any part of these 3 key players would unbalanced the team, which will be playing into Barcas hands because you cant beat Barca with an unbalanced team. Your team has to be able to Attack & Defend harmoniously.

BA on November 28, 2010 at 9:17 pm

i’d beg to differ that Pique is incapable of dealing with Ronaldo; he pocketed him in the match at the Bernabeu last season. nor am i sure how much one should read into that Portugal v. Spain game; the more interesting international match for me to compare would be Spain v. Germany in the World Cup or Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets v. Khedira and Özil.

TheTruth on November 28, 2010 at 9:52 pm

Pk never “Pocketed” CR in any game , thats just a lie cules love to tell , CR has been kept in check in that game by him and Milito combined not pique alone and in the camp nou one , pique was beaten most of the time and was bailed out by the fantastic Puyol, Pique vs CR one on one , the former will get murdered

Sam on November 28, 2010 at 9:54 pm

BA

To be fair, Ronaldo didn’t seem to be in top-shape since Piqué once or twice outran him (and Piqué is not very fast) which I think is quite surprising seeing as how Ronaldo is one of the fastest players in the world, the fastest with the ball at feet (according to some study).

Well, back to the original post, I think it’s wrong to say that Boateng was the reason that Milan played better. He certainly was a part of it, but Madrid outplayed Milan in the first half and should have had a two- or three goal lead. They relaxed in the second half and got punished (once from an offside goal).

Bob on November 28, 2010 at 10:43 pm

re: Ronaldo and Piqué, I think this is right. If it’s the game I’m thinking of, Ronaldo seemed injured somehow.

BA on November 29, 2010 at 1:58 am

i think a CAT-Scan revealed it was actually his self-respect that was injured. which i remember thinking was odd since i assumed he had had it removed a long time ago….

BerkeleyBernie on November 28, 2010 at 5:54 pm

The default Barca offense is for Alves to join the attack, providing width on the right. However, this is by no means set in stone. Alves can easily play a more defensive role to guard against Ronaldo, and either Maxwell or Adriano can press on the left. Adriano, in particular, was excellent against Panathinaikos, and had several strong shots on goal. I think he is really starting to mesh well with the Barca style and provides another threat with accurate outside shots.

Romalsacien on November 28, 2010 at 7:29 pm

I’m not sur that Barcelone will do as usual. Guardiola has certainly still in mind he lost last year against Inter beacause his team hasn’t got something like a “Plan B”. And Mourinho knows how to deal with Barça,… So if he wants to surprise Mourinho, he has to change his team.

Sam on November 28, 2010 at 7:40 pm

Mourinho has confirmed that Madrid will line-up the same way they’ve done in recent games.

Andres on November 28, 2010 at 8:02 pm

Well Mourinho just confirmed that he will use his usual starting eleven and that his team will NOT change their playing style against Barca

Kostadin on November 28, 2010 at 9:37 pm

I don’t know if Esteban Granero is available but I think he could do a good job as a left-sided midfielder. He is good defensively, he is creative and can even tuck in to help out Khedira and Alonso and could cover Alves’ forward runs. I think Ronaldo should start upfront on his own, drifting out to the flanks and stretching the defence when Alves has made a forward run with Ozil exploiting the space and playing slightly behind him. Gonzalo Higuain or Angel Di Maria should both be comfortable playing the right wing position.

Smith on November 28, 2010 at 10:22 pm

I don’t see Pep making any changes from his current team. Last year he played Alves further up field because Ibra wasn’t fit to start. He moved Messi centrally and Pedro to the left. This season he appears to have added a natural goal scoring threat from the left in Villa, finally having a player to take the place of Henry. This allows for Barca to stretch teams far more often and create space for Xavi and Iniesta in the middle.

The problem Real has is that Ronaldo doesn’t track back which leaves Marcelo isolated against the winger (in this case Pedro). When this happens Khedira typically moves over to help and that leaves Alonso in the middle to cover Iniesta and Xavi. Adding another cdm would be helpful, but what is also an option would be to revert to the 4-4-1-1 he plays in Europe. In this case he would play Arbeloa as the LB and move Marcelo up to LM. Ronaldo would move centrally into either the striker or CAM depending on which player Mourinho would chose to bench Higuain or Ozil – my money would be on Higuain.

Personally I think it would be a terrible idea to play Diarra in this match. In every Madrid-Barca game he has been played in he has been the one covering Messi and in every one of these matches Messi has just skinned him time and again.

Diriye on November 29, 2010 at 2:20 am

Özil can hurt Barca more when he plays deep closer to Khedira and Alonso. Anyone remember those long 30-40 feet diagnal passes to Podolski against Serbia? He is much more dangerous when he is laid back and able to look up the field with his panoramic vision. It will be perfect storm against Barca if:

1. Barca plays high line defense
2. If their full backs attack
3. Ronaldo and Higuain anticipate like Podolski.

Sam on November 29, 2010 at 10:09 am

I agree. I think that the reason he “disappears” in some games is because he is in a space where there’s always one or two players that quickly pressurize him, forcing him to make one- or two touch passes, which makes him influence games less, although he’s still good at maintaining possession. Playing him closer to Xabi and Khedira would allow him to get more ball and more space to use his fantastic vision. Also, he’d be harder to mark since he’d probably make runs forward.

Kevin on November 29, 2010 at 3:00 am

I believe Barcelona will play their best and most regular team, play their game and try to take the game to Madrid. I think the original lineup is spot on, maybe Abidal for Maxwell would be the only possible change in my opinion.

If I had to guess what Madrid will do I would say that Lass comes in for Higuain, Lass sits in behind Khedira and Alonso to pick up Messi as he drops, and then Ozil will play as a false 9 and playing free, pushing high as a number 9, dropping as a number 10, and occasionally drifting wide as well. They will sit deep and look to catch Barca on the break with pace and direct play, while Barca will keep the ball, press Madrid and try to break them down.

No matter what happens tactically though this is going to be an excellent game!!

when it comes to Barca-Madrid, logic should be thrown out the window and replaced with pride. For me, it makes perfect sense to play Alves again in the RW position, with Puyol covering RB. but why would Barca deploy a defensive tactic at home? people tend to point to Barca’s LB position as a weakness, but which other club has 3 LB’s where one can play CB, the other CM and the third almost anywhere on the pitch? that’s another issue i’d like to see Pep handle this evening. Abidal can be a 3rd CB, freeing Alves to an extent on the other side. If Puyol plays RB, both Adriano and Maxwell can do a decent job at LB. Adriano would probably push very high forward, unsettling Di Maria and limiting Ramos’ forward bursts. Maxwell has a more all-rounded game, but i think he’s 3rd choice tonight.

playing Xavi and Iniesta is crucial, as their intricate passing and telepathy STILL cause Madrid problems, up until the last Classico at least. Diarra, questionably ignored for much of this season, is a player I rate highly, but his nerves and rash tackling could see him out tonight. the Gago of Late Capello/early Schuster would have been perfect tonight…what happened to him? and this is the part that confuses me. What does Khedira do? I’ve read every single comment and to be honest i doubt anyone has a clue what he REALLY does. I mean, he’s there, very difficult to miss to be honest. i’m not buying the cliches of “dirty work”, “links the players” or whatnot. Mourinho has asked for him for a reason, but I’m sorry, is he anything more than Alonso’s bodyguard?

Madrid’s second most talked about players (after Cristiano ofc!!) are Di Maria and Ozil. Di Maria has been critisized in the past for not showing up when it counted most, which can be argued, but let’s not, yet he (according to Sid Lowe) embodies Mourinho’s Madrid in that self-sacrifice, all substance no show, all for one/one for all mentality. The kid can clearly follow instructions and Jose rates him highly, so will he be disciplined or free tonight? I think it’s quite rare to see a player who can be equally dangerous either way…Di Maria is! and Ozil…ZM said it best, his off ball movement speaks volumes of his football brain. He doesn’t do anything spectacular with it, hust the simple basics, but his timing & positioning when he does those things…playmaker!

Gago is out injured and has been for the whole season so far. He’ll be back in a month or so.

Khedira? Well Khedira plays less like a box-to-box midfielder and more like a defensive midfielder (I think this is temporary, until the team is fully gelled he doesn’t want to risk the defense). He breaks up attacks, and passes the ball to Alonso or to another creative player. Think of it like this, Khedira is the destroyer, Alonso is the passer and Özil is the creator. Sometimes, Khedira does make forward runs and usually his runs are dangerous. He’s been a bit unlucky, he should’ve scored at least one or two goals this season but he’s still been exceptional and a much better option than Lass who I think lacks positioning, vision and discipline to be a world-class defensive midfielder.

Elwood on November 29, 2010 at 5:14 am

I think both team’s starting lineup will be the exact setup in ZM’s first diagram. IMO they will be trying to impose their own style rather than focusing on neutralising the opponent. I remembered reading an article from Xavi saying the best way to handle Ronaldo is to force him deep, not sure how they’re going to do that though.

I highly doubt Madrid will be playing as deep as Inter did in Camp Nou, because Madrid and Inter are teams with different qualities, and frankly I don’t think Madrid are as good defensively. I think they will be play similar to how Inter did in the 1st leg at San Siro, high-line and intense pressing not unsimilar to Barca themselves, and the difference will be direct balls over the top whenever a chance is on.

Haven’t been as psyche about a game since the World Cup final!

Tayyab on November 29, 2010 at 6:33 am

I’m just hoping that its an open game and both teams go for it. Mostly spectacles like these are very cagey when there is so much hipe built upon. And i hope the best team wins and there is no umpiring controversies at the end of and we only talk about the game itself and not about refrees

Zulfiqar Ali on November 29, 2010 at 10:52 am

Jose has done well against Barca when his teams have played a very tight defensive game; not allowing Barca to play in the final third and content with having them all the possession in the midfield while attacking on counter with physical attackers. I dont think this Real team can play this way. What do you think the possession stats will be in this game. Real have to approcah this game with a lot more ambition than the other Jose teams which is an advantage for Barca. What do you think.

Think for Real the 4-2-3-1 is the most obvious defensive tactic, with the ‘2′ deeper perhaps than normal. A defensive pair of full-backs would be ideal, and Real could try depending on using Ronaldo,Ozil,Maria and Benzema on the counter.

2 deep CM’s (as opposed to 1 anchorman) congests that area ahead of the CB’s and perhaps is the best way of containing Messi’s devastating cut-ins.

Sorry but I did not read the above comments. Maybe what I will say have already been stated and debated.

I don’t think Mourinho will use a third midfielder whether in the shape of L. Diarra or anyone else (in this instance I’m thinking of E. Granero). This is entirely based on the fact that he has Samir Khedira. The most hardworking midfielder you’ll ever see. Khedira’s covers a lot of ground during games and usually ends up as the player who runs the most. He has exceptional speed as well which allows him to cover or track back in situations which requires it. Having Ozil in the team allows Mourinho to peg Barca back and not allow Pique the chance to roam forward with the ball.

Patrick on November 29, 2010 at 6:17 pm

I think the most likely thing we’ll see from Barca is Keita in midfield with Iniesta on the right, Messi up front and Villa left.

Pepelalo87 on November 29, 2010 at 7:04 pm

If messi plays in front, he is like a liar striker, because he would attract Madrid deffense.

JH on November 29, 2010 at 10:27 pm

Bloody hell. I don’t think anyone saw that coming. Incredible performance from Barca but I’ve never seen a team so comprehensively beaten (and never thought I’d see a Mourinho team so heavily beaten.)

I’m not quite sure what Madrid’s tactics were – they didn’t really press well or get men behind the ball. Suicidal performance from Real Madrid but Barcelona were sensational.

sander on November 29, 2010 at 10:34 pm

Did Mourinho at half time come up with a starting tactic (Lass for Özil) and not a game changing one? What was the idea of seven man ‘behind the ball’, which against this Barcelona isn’t really possible since they always find a free man in between three of the opposition?

Real wasn’t ready yet to play Barcelona. Mourinho had no trick, just play the best players in the best formation. It wasn’t good enough. Yet. Don’t be surprised when Real win La Liga.

David on November 29, 2010 at 11:18 pm

Bloody hell Real did none of the suggested tactics above and heavily beaten. They didn’t mark and press Barca players enough and just stayed behind the ball.

And all the worries about the Real came out to be true. Marcelo made several costly mistakes in defense.
Las Diarra should have started instead of Ozil or Di Maria.

Rickardinho on November 29, 2010 at 11:51 pm

Never thought it could go that wrong for Real! It looked like Mourinho had set Real up to press very narrow in midfield but not enough pressure on the ball and acres of space wide. Surely it couldn’t have been the plan to leave defensively suspect Marcelo and Ramos that exposed?!?!? Marcelo not tracking the runner on the first two goals obv didnt help but full-backs left one-on-one like that was a disaster waiting to happen.
Looking forward to your analysis on this one!

Anonymous on November 30, 2010 at 12:12 am

It all came down on the inability of the Real midfield to keep up with the Barça midfield.

Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets are always moving, always keeping the triangle… Madrid’s midfield was too stiff to have that kind of mobility….

With that they always created mismatches down the wings, were the side back and the winger always had the help of one of the midfielders….forming the 1-2s triangle that Barça is all about.

It’s a beautiful game the one Barça plays… and it’s fundamental football… creating triangles for quick 1-2s.